Pastor Troy Takes His Story to the Big Screen With ‘We Was Homeboyz’

Rappers have always had a jones for being a part of the film industry. Atlanta-based rapper Pastor Troy is the latest rapper to transition from music to film. During a recent visit at rolling out magazine’s office, Pastor Troy spoke about delving into film with his latest project We Was Homeboyz.

What was the transition like from music to film?

It’s just been different for me being independent and trying to deal with the piracy. With music, they are giving it away right now. I thought to myself, ‘what could we do different to still make paper and still set trends?’ So with all of the people coming down here to shoot movies, I decided to try it. I wrote the film and I star in it. My man Gino Payne did all of the directing and editing.

Was there a big difference between making an album and making a film?

The biggest difference to me was the time. The time that we spent editing, just sitting there looking at the screen for hours and hours at a time as opposed to being in the studio listening to the same track. You’re using two different skills. It’s crazy getting into it and seeing how a movie is really put together. Coming from the music background, I wrote so many songs that were like stories or three minute movies. So I took a lot of elements from my songs and put this movie together.

How can your fans see this movie?

The red carpet premiere of We Was Homeboyz will be at the Rialto Theater at Georgia State University. It will be held on Thursday, May 10 and it will start at about 6 p.m. Make sure you get your tickets from rialtocenter.org. It’s going to be really nice. $20 general admission and VIP access is $50, or $80 for couples, with free food, free drinks, great seating and gift bags.

What’s the overall goal for this film?

We just want everybody to come out and support. We’re going to have different distributors in the house and we want to have a really good representation. We have a goal of getting into 500 theaters across the Southeast and the people who can make this happen will be at the premiere. So we have to show them that we have the support in Atlanta. Once they see that we’re strong in Atlanta, they will take this film to other markets.

A.R. Shaw is an author and journalist who documents culture, politics, and entertainment. He has covered The Obama White House, the summer Olympics in London, and currently serves as Lifestyle Editor for Rolling Out magazine. Follow his journey on Twitter @arshaw and Instagram @arshaw23.